A grown-up’s guide to celebrating Cinco de Mayo in one word. Tequila.

Cinco de Mayo–which commemorates the 1862 victory of the Mexican army over the French­—not Mexico’s Independence Day, as many mistakenly believe—is a day to celebrate Mexico’s heritage. And that rich heritage includes Tequila, the blue agave-based spirit made in Mexico’s hilly Jalisco province.

Sure, in the United States, the liquor is often pigeonholed as the stuff of machine-made margaritas, or the potent party elixir of spring breakers and roughneck barflies.